Metallic seal



(No Model.)

A. J. PHELPS.

- METALLIC SEAL.

N0. 368,780. Patented Aug.'23, 1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT Osman.

ANDREW J. PHELPS, OF SYRACUSE, NEWV YORK.

METALLIC SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,780, dated August 23, 1887.

Serial No. 239,082. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW J. PHELPs, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Metallic Seals, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to seals designed to be applied to binders surrounding boxes or packages for the purpose of guarding against unauthorized opening of said boxes or packages during transportation or storage, and has special reference to the class of seals described in patent of March 8, 1887, No. 358,880, and is a further improvement upon the same, designed to render the seal more secure from malicious tampering therewith.

My present invention consists in the combination, with the binder encompassing a box or package, of a seal composed of soft-metal disks placed one upon the other, with the binder passing between them, and the edges of one disk folded and compressed upon the other disk, and a fastener or fasteners driven into the box or package and having the binder secured thereto, all as hereinafter more fully described, and specifically set forth in the claim.

The invention admits of several modifica tions in the details of its construction, some of which are illustrated in the annexed drawings, in which- Figures 1, 2, and 3 are plan views of my improved seal in different forms applied to the binder. Figs. 4 and 5 are detached plan views of the component parts of the seal shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of said parts united. Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the same, showing their condition after the seal is compressed upon the binder. Figs. 8 and 9 are detached plan views of the component parts of the seal shown in Fig. 2. Figs. 10 and 11 are respectively longitudinal and transverse sections of said seal. Figs. 12 and 13 are detached plan views of the component parts of the seal shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 14. is a transverse section on lines a, Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts.

a represents a solid disk of lead or other suitable pliable or ductile metal, which is placed in a countersink on the exterior of the box or package to be sealed and under the binder Z), which may be either a wire or a metal strap extended around the box or package, and tied either by wrapping the ends of said binder around the protruding end of a nail or screw or staple, a, driven through the disk a and into the box or package, as represented in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, or by bending the ends of the wire at right angles and driving the said ends through holes in the disk a and into the box, as illustrated in Fig. 10 of the drawings, or by tying the binder before it reaches the seal to nails or other suitable fasteners driven into the box or package, and twisting the ends of the binder around each other over the disk a, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. In either case the disk a is of a greater superficial area than the disk d, which is also solid and composed of lead or other suitable pliable or ductile metal and separate and distinct from the disk a, upon which it is placed and made to cover the tied ends of the binders b. The marginal portion a of the underlying disk is then folded over and upon the disk (I, and by means of a suitable stamp compressed upon the same, as represented in Fig. 7 of the drawings. The two disks a and d are thus firmly united, and the impression made by the seal-press across the junction of the disks renders it extremely difficult to reunite the disks after the seal has been broken without being readily detected. The disks or plates to and d may be .either round or rectangular, as shown, or any other suitable shape. The overlying disk d may be made considerably smaller than the subjacent disk a by providing the latter with slots 6 e, and introducing into said slots the ends of the disk (1, which in this case is preferably of rectangular form, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 13 of the drawings. I

Having described my invention, what I claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1S-

In combination with a binder encompassing a box or package, a seal composed of softrnetal disks placed one upon the other, with the binder passing between them, and the edges of one disk folded and compressed uponcounty of Onondaga, in the State of New the other disk, and a fastener driven into the York, this 14th day of May, 1887. box or package and having the binder secured to it, asset forth. ANDREW J PHELPS. [L. s.] 5 In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto signed Witnesses:

my name and affixed my seal, in the presence 0. BENDIXON,

of two attesting witnesses, at Syracuse, in the H. I. DENISON. 

